Snow-Ridden Mistakes
by BlueberryToasterTart
Summary: I've altered this to my where I post my mature themed drabbles that have no where else to go.
1. Chapter 1

So…I'm not entirely sure where this came from, but it was sometimes after that episode of Defenders of Berk where Snotlout and Astrid are together while the others are messing with the Scouldran…Scaldly, I think. And then Tale of Two Dragons happened, and then this story happened.

As always, I own nothing, it's all to those amazing folk over at Dreamworks.

Snow-Ridden Mistakes

The winter cold was biting through the tiny drafts in the house. Astrid sat by the fire, staring into its blue and white base, cooling upwards into the infamous orange and yellow flickering towers. She nestled her numb fingers into her fists, pushing them into her abdomen, trying to secure what warmth they had left.

This was by far one of the coldest nights yet, and the tenth that Hiccup hadn't come home. That meant another night of sleeping in a ball and striving to not freeze to death. Maybe tonight she would let Stormfly sleep inside. Sleeping beside a fire-warm dragon's stomach was much more appealing than death.

There was a knock on the door and within seconds it was pushed open. Snotlout waltzed inside with a covered basket in his hands. He kicked the door closed behind him.

"The little woman told me to bring these over." He said like it had been such a chore, and that a congratulations and admiration should follow this feat. "You know, so you wouldn't starve or have to cook since it's just you."

Astrid didn't appreciate the indication that being alone was negative, but even if she would never admit it, he was kind of right. The Chief leaving his wife home alone for ten freezing nights did have a negative vibe to it.

"Thanks." Astrid said out of curtsey. She hadn't made a proper meal since Hiccup left and a meal she didn't have to slave over was welcome.

She expected Snotlout to leave, but instead he leaned against the closed door. "So, it's been just you, more than a whole week by yourself. No Hiccup to mule around, drawing you into all his complicated 'chief' problems."

She sighed. "What do you want, Snotlout?"

"Nothing, I was just making sure you weren't being going crazy cooped up in here." Snotlout said.

It was the fifth day of one of the heaviest winter storms they'd ever had. Several feet of snow packed against the ground, the smallest drift was higher than an average Viking. The dragons made clearing paths much easier but none less cold, and people could only survive so much of it.

It was the storm that Astrid blamed for Hiccup's delayed return. He and Toothless had left ten days ago for a chiefly meeting at a neighboring tribe. On Toothless the trip should have taken less than two days. Two days traveling there and two back, and the meeting was only supposed to be a three day ordeal, which meant that Hiccup was three days late.

He had invited her to join him but she gracefully declined. She had gone once, the first year of their marriage and the first of his chiefdom, and it was one of the most boring thing she'd ever had to sit through. And with Hiccup gone matters of the tribe fell to her, and if she was gone then somehow through the ways of possession and linage it went to Snotlout.

Hiccup had seemed a little disappointed that he'd make the trip alone, but he never forced her into anything she disliked. And he didn't want to return to statues of Snotlout either.

And somehow through this storm, Snotlout had managed a reason to meander over everyday, some days more than once. He would find some nonsense trifle to poke at Hiccup, for not being around, for being late, or lacking this trait or that trait, or neglecting his husbandly duties, or a combination of all of the above.

"You know, if I were Hiccup," Snotlout made a sound that said he was glad he wasn't. "I wouldn't leave my beautiful wife home alone to waste away while I flew around in the clouds."

"No, you'd spend your time leaving her for small periods of time while you flirt with other girls." Astrid said. It was true, and everyone knew it even if they didn't say it out loud. She was sure, to some extend, that his wife knew it too, but preferred to ignore it like anything else negative that floated around her.

Snotlout huffed. "Well, maybe she shouldn't be such a pain in the…everything."

To her surprise, and annoyance, he sat down opposite her. The more he came over here the more she started to think that he came just to get away from his wife. Snotlout had been the last of their generation to marry, and had rushed into it. She was young, high pitched, and had a wail that could deafen a Thunderdrum. She could be heard through the walls of their house at all hours of the day and night.

Snotlout had come over every night with a basket of food, often no more than a loaf of bread or some water, anything to get away from, as he often called her, 'the little woman'. Then, out of her sight, he would lean back and sigh. A few times he'd talked, and a few times she'd listened. He rarely asked for input, and she let him vent his whines and complaints.

He needed someone to talk to too, whether he'd admit it or not. Tonight he didn't seem any different. They sat there for a while, Snotlout just enjoying not being yelled at, whined about, or hackled. Occasionally, Astrid would throw in a nonchalant comment. They sat around the crackling fire, not freezing to death, while the winter winds howled against the walls like a distant army of angry dragons.

"You guys don't know how great you've got it." Snotlout said after a while.

"What?" Astrid asked.

"You and Hiccup," Snotlout said. "You guys get along, always laughing, not screaming at each other every waking moment of the day. You kiss him when he leaves, and when he gets back, you guys do that standing beside each other thing. All I've got is this…leech that feeds off of pain and suffering."

"She's not that bad." Astrid said, but she was a bad liar. Always had been.

Snotlout did that huffed laughed again, then reverted back into a sad straight face glaring into the fire.

"Thirsty?" Astrid said, remembering her hostess-of-the-house duties. One of them was making people feel welcome, even if that person was Snotlout.

"Sure."

In the basket, she found water and bread, the normal. She brought both the jug and loaf to the fireside. She tore the bread in half and offered it to him, but he declined.

"Nah, I've already loaded up on lard stew and Thor knows what was in that cake. Rocks, I think." Snotlout shuddered. He did however accept a drink from the jug. She handed it to his outstretched hand. A brief touching of the hands and the memory of human contact came back through her hand, up her arm, through her chest, down her back, down her legs and back up into her brain.

She laughed at herself. It was Snotlout for crying out loud.

For a moment it was a normal day, and for that moment Astrid felt a sense of the usual. Two people, sitting around the evening fire, sharing a meal, and staying warm, it was strangely comforting.

"I should head back. I'm already in trouble." Snotlout sighed, sitting the plate and cup down on the table as he got up.

She nodded him out and heard Hookfang get a snort of smoke and take off through the gray winds. It looked like the snow was picking up. Tonight would be terribly cold. She put another log on the fire and huddled underneath the blanket beside it.

In the morning the drifts in some parts of the village were passed roofs. They looked like little snow-huts with fire-carved tunnels to their doors. Dragons were kept busy melting the snow and ice from the houses and food storage and the Great Hall. Because of the weather the Vikings were kept busy orchestrating the dragons and stocking for the next freezing night.

The clouds fought with the sun and it was losing. The warmth was light, most of it being dissolved before it could ever reach the ground. The snow had patches of pale gold on its smooth surfaces, a bit of beauty in an otherwise deathly world. Astrid kept one eye on the sky, waiting for that little black dot in the distance. But it didn't come. The wind picked up, a thousand needles of ice biting with every second.

An eleventh night of huddling alone by the fire was one its way. After sundown the snow began to fall in graceful flutters. The wind however saw fit to blow with violence. Astrid was adding another log to the hearth fire when Snotlout dropped by, another basket under his arm.

They sat around the fire sharing food and drink, talking of little things and people, like the nonsensical nit-picks of the little woman. That was a word that Snotlout had picked up from Astrid, 'nonsensical'. To him it describe her whines perfectly, 'meaningless, to not have sense'.

Like the night before he left with a sigh, going back to his nagging wife and hollow home like the dutiful husband. Astrid slept by the fire, holding as many blankets and clothes around her as she could. In the morning she woke stiff, and for a whimpering moment though she might be near frozen. A few walks around the glowing fire and the life came back to her limbs.

The day began again, melting snow and helping people whose houses had been completely covered. She looked upward often, hoping to see that tell-tale black dot in the sky. The clouds weren't lifting, only shifting around and joining their forces. When the sun began to fall behind them doze the island in a dull gray darkness.

Astrid couldn't feel her fingers by the time she got back to the house, preparing to spend a twelfth night alone. She would have to bring Stormfly in if she wanted to wake up in the morning.

She was ready to walk around to the stable when the door opened and Snotlout came in with his basket of food. They had trouble closing the door, the wind was so vicious, like needles in the skin they could still feel. They finally closed the door and Astrid threw another log into the fire. She didn't want to risk it burning low.

The house creaked under the wind as they shared the basket's contents and a cup of water warmed over the fire.

"It's getting worse out there." Astrid said. "I hope Hiccup's not frozen somewhere. I told him to pack for cold weather. He never listens to me."

"At least you can talk, I can't get a word in between all the squawking and yelling." Snotlout said. "And come on, Hiccup is one those guys who you think should die, logically speaking, and then never does. And then there's the wife, who you hope would die but never does."

"You say that but when she really does die you'll cry like a baby." Astrid said with a smirk.

"Whatever." Snotlout shrugged.

The wind blew a violent gust against the house, fine snow pushing in from underneath the door. Snotlout pushed a fur against it, stuffing it into the crack with his hands.

"It's getting bad out there." Snotlout said.

"Maybe if you leave her alone she'll freeze in her sleep." Astrid said, as a joke, thinking of herself being so cold in the night.

Snotlout laughed. "Maybe."

They ate and drank, and all the while the snow blew harder and colder. Astrid held her hands up to the fire to retrieve their warmth. It should never be this cold inside a house.

"I can't feel my fingers. This is stupid." Snotlout moved his hands around in quick motions trying to flick the blood back to life.

There was no leaving that night. By the dampened sound the wind was making against the door, the drifts were higher than the house, and growing. Still they sat, both knowing the snow was worsening but neither bringing it up in their silent conversation.

Eventually the night wore on, and Snotlout got up with a sigh.

"Oh, stay. You'll get lost out there and I'll be pinned for murder." Astrid said.

He exhaled, slumped his shoulders and sat back down on the floor. "Thanks, I really didn't want to go back. All I'd hear about it how its too cold and how its all my fault. And if I were more this or more that it would be warmer or this would be less that."

"Yes, Snotlout, if you weren't so lazy the summer would come faster." Astrid said sarcastically.

"Exactly."

The night went on and the pull of exhaustion was thickening. Snotlout held back a yawn, but they both knew sleep was inevitable. Astrid fetched a few blankets for the fireside, not wanting to bear the thought of anyone else sleeping in the bed she and Hiccup shared.

"What, I have to sleep on the floor?" Snotlout said when he saw her laying them out.

"You want to sleep in my husband's bed?" Astrid asked. She's bring Stormfly in to the bedroom for warmth.

Snotlout thought this over, and decided the fireside was better. When she turned to go upstairs he added, "You're not joining me? What, you and Hiccup can cuddle for warmth but we can't?"

"Seriously, Snotlout?"

"Come on, we're just two people trying to not freeze to death. The village wakes up tomorrow and you're up there frozen like a Viking-sickle and I'm down here snug by the fire, I'm the murderer for letting you freeze."

That was the old Snotlout talking, before he was beaten down on a daily basis by a immature, half-insane, she-beast of a wife. His deadened face was wearing down and his boyish humor and immature charm showing through. Sure, he was infuriating at best, but it was nice to see him not so beaten and weary.

And, between freezing to death and Snotlout, Astrid swallowed her pride and sat down on the makeshift bed with him. She wasn't touching him but could feel heat resonating from him, like a miniature high heat fire. The fire cracked and hissed and she was reminded how it felt to sleep next to someone, to have that sense of presence beside her, a comfort, a warmth, that feeling of not being alone.

Bit by bit, it all felt like a good idea. Being so close meant staying alive, and knowing that you'd stay that way. Feeling warm hands enclose like a security blanket, hot humid breath kept her cheek from the frost. The fire burned down, glowing ghosts and shadows on the wooden walls and beams.

It could only have been from the lack of human contact she'd come accustomed to, the bitter cold numbing her skin, or the lethargy of sleep that okayed the encounter. He encompassed her with his arms, warmer than any kind of blanket, a fire on every side. The heat, the proximity, the intimacy, they were interweaving.

And like his old self, he made the first move. Pressing lips against lips, there came no resignation. There wasn't a sensation like the humid intimacy of a human mouth. Next to the snow piling up and the icy air it was a volcanic burst, the heat a staple against the frigid death.

Between the rustle of clothes, of gasps of warm breath, the pressure on her hips wasn't out of place. Every inch of her was alive, feeling everything around her. It all unfolded so easily, happened in a natural flow, that it felt normal to accept. Tangled legs and encircled tongues, it all lead to burning embers in the fire pit, and the escalating rhythmic thrusts. No words were used, they weren't needed.

Another log went on the simmering ashes to keep it burning through the night. There would be no worries tonight, no, they would rise with the sun.

And rise, they did.

The morning came with a shock at the snow that drifted over the village. Before they could unbury the village they first had to unbury themselves. Snotlout pulled the fur from under the door and when it opened a wall of glistening backlit white stood silent.

"Maybe you should try the window." Astrid suggested, because it was higher and on the side of the house not buried in drifted snow, and because him leaving the house in the morning might be construed as the walk of shame that it was.

"And LOOK suspicious?" Snotlout said as he whistled, for Hookfang she presumed.

"Right." Astrid sighed. But something had to be said, done, agreed upon. She put a hand across the white framed doorway and threw out her deadliest tone. "Snotlout. As far as anyone is concerned NOTHING happened. You stopped by, with food, and the storm picked up and we decided it was best if you stayed here. You slept by the fire, down here, and I was upstairs."

"Right, right." Snotlout said, none to convincing. "Like I need that hanging over my head."

The storm seemed to be spitting out the last of the snow, melting through the sun bright air and landing in a half frozen drops in the snow. It took the majority of the morning to dragon-flame the main circle in the village and the rest of the afternoon to uncover the rest of the houses and the docks. The gray clouds were thinning, whisking away, and the bright clear blue was sparkling underneath.

Everyone was glad to finally see the blue sky pushing the winter storm away. A party spun out of the Great Hall, mead and warm food galore. While the festivities continued the blue sky stayed clear but darkened into starry ink fading into sunset pink and purple.

Everyone, it seemed, was feeling the joy from the end of the storm. But Astrid couldn't shake the horrible tightening in her chest. She had made a grave mistake. How could she? Food tasted like guilt, mead was soured with distrust. How could she have throw Hiccup's trust away like that? She'd done the worst a wife could do to a good husband, she'd cuckolded him.

No, a cuckold was a public humiliation, and as of right then no one knew besides her and Snotlout. Hiccup wasn't made into anything unless it was known, unless he knew. And that was NOT going to happen. She'd kill Snotlout first, kill the only witness and there was no crime.

She just needed a little while to get used to the guilt, to accept it in order to lose it. Perhaps Hiccup would miss another night, and tomorrow she could hid the guilt in her face. The party subsided and people began to wind down, heading back to their houses with bellies of mead and mutton.

Astrid stood on the steps of hers and Hiccup's, looking down over the village as it slowly ebbed into a nighttime stupor. She glanced upward into the night sky, as her habits commend, and her eyes found a small anomaly, bright stars blinking out, one at a time, almost as if something was moving.

She felt a thump in her chest, knocking guilt and shame into her throat. That spec moving through the stars with such stealth, could only be Hiccup on his infamous night-colored Night Fury. She watched the black spec grow closer, larger, until she could see the strong wings flapping and the thin man between them.

Toothless landed a few feet from the stable where Stormfly slept. She gave a dragon-snort of greeting, then resumed her sleeping position as Hiccup gave Toothless a pat on the nose and left him to rest in the stable.

Astrid was waiting on the step for him, greeting him with the open arms he deserved. He held her tight, and kissed her before escorting her inside. Another prolonged kiss shared between two separated love birds, but this one was different. Hiccup pulled away from her, but still clasped one of her hands in each of his, drawing her blue eyes into his green.

Astrid knew she was a horrible liar. She didn't have to tell Hiccup about the week she'd spent alone. She didn't have to spill her guilty conscious all over him or have the rumor mill cut his esteem to bits.

She didn't have to because he already knew.

The night that followed was one of the worst. They slept in their bed, in the thickest cloud of forced silence Berk had ever seen. Astrid was tired but she couldn't sleep in the uncomfortable thicket. She thought about asking Hiccup if he was asleep, but never did.

When the morning finally came she must have fallen asleep because she was roused when Hiccup left. The door shut with a slamming force that she knew was anger. Sitting up, the guilt thundered around inside her pushing every other feeling aside.

He'd trusted her completely and she had thrown that trust into the ocean. How could he trust her again after that? He couldn't, and shouldn't. She wouldn't trust him if it was the other way around. She imagined the situation on the other foot.

She might have gone on some important trip, and caught in a winter storm she was kept from Berk for twelve nights, sleeping islands and watching Berk underneath a horrible winter clouds, only wondering if everyone was alright, knowing Hiccup was home alone, sleeping by the fire to stay warm…and then some mysterious and unnamed She comes over with a basket of goodies and warm words and company in his time of loneliness, every night lasting longer and longer until one night the storm forbids her from leaving, and she stays, cuddling by the fire, sleeping in Hiccup's arms on the floor beside the fire because Hiccup didn't want to soil the same bed he shares with his wife.

Astrid was overcome with so much hate for this imaginary woman her teeth were gritted and her knuckles were white. She got up in this rage and prepared for the day trying to dilute it. Is this how Hiccup felt? So…muddied by mistrust. Someone you trusted so completely and wholly, someone whose hands he'd put his very life into, had thrown his trust down and spat on it.

There wasn't anything she could do to make it up. She couldn't even forgive him for the woman that didn't exist, let alone expect him to forgive her for a very real man, who not only existed but that he saw every day.

Then a horrible thought sunk the pit in his stomach - what if Snotlout gloated to Hiccup? It was just the something he needed to shove into Hiccup's face. He was always looking for something to prove to Hiccup was he was better or stronger, or something other. Then what? To hear it from Snotlout first, that would only end in disaster.

Astrid knew that she should leave the house and seek Hiccup out herself but she couldn't muster the energy. She felt so…worthless, and angry, and such a horrid mix of feelings no one should ever have to feel. She sat at the table, water chilling in her hand, putting off the inevitable.

She didn't know how long she sat there until Hiccup came back, tired out and the darkness of night behind him in the doorway. He didn't speak. He put down the short iron blade he carried around the island, and Astrid moved to get him a drink.

"I got it." Hiccup said, moving passed her.

A knife, that was what it felt like. Right into her heart, fingering her guilt and poking at it with rude little hands.

He sat down, a roll of parchment and a stick of charcoal in hand. It was pressuring up, ballooning her guilt into her stomach, up against her ribs, pushing it up her throat. It couldn't go on like this.

"Hiccup." Astrid said.

He gave little notice that she'd spoken. He sat there, charcoal in hand, making notes here and there on something new he must be trying to think about. His little finger was twitching, something he only did when he was stressed, or nervous, or angry.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, not wanting a shouting match, but knew there was no avoiding a confrontation.

"Yeah." He said plainly.

"Hiccup, you know I love you." Astrid said, hearing the pleading in her voice. But was there no way in her mind that didn't involve begging for the least bit of forgiveness. "More than anything."

He looked up from his work. Those green eyes were like daggers, prodding worse than words ever could. So much so, words failed her. She'd never seen those eyes look at her like…with such distrust, hurt, and pain he'd never thought he'd feel. But there it was.

"Do you, Astrid?" Hiccup said. "Enough you couldn't spend twelve days without me? You felt the need to replace me?"

"That's not how it happened!" Astrid cried, feeling the overwhelming emotions surging through her. She plunged in to a hasty explanation of the cold, of being alone, and fearing frozen death, and how the storm had been so strong he'd stayed. She tried to tell him that it had been for warmth, to survive, and it all had escalated.

Hiccup sighed, the rage vivid on his face.

"Why didn't you just kick him out like you always do?" Hiccup shouted.

"You'd rather me freeze to death?" Astrid cried back at him.

Hiccup didn't say anything but his eyes were on fire.

"Do you?" Astrid said in a whisper. She anticipated the answer. If she were him, she would despise her too. She felt the sadness and pain liquefy behind her eyes.

"Maybe you should have." Hiccup said, his voice barely audible.

Astrid choked through a sob and clamped her hand over her mouth to prevent any more of those sounds escaping. Hiccup turned his face away from her and she took the chance to run. Outside into darkness and to the dragon stable around the back of the house. Toothless turned his black face to see who was running up, and with a grunt he welcomed her.

Stormfly unfurled from her sleeping position and turned her spiked head to look at Astrid with her large yellow eyes. Astrid collapsed onto her nose, holding her loyal dragon in her arms. Stormfly nudged her, knowing something wasn't right. Toothless sniffed her back, nudging her gently with his head.

Astrid left go of Stormfly, and patted Toothless. He was looking at her with a curious face, tilting his head, like he was asking her what was wrong. It was so strange how dragons just knew things, like an extra sense.

"I'm sorry." Astrid told Toothless. Maybe he would pass it one to his rider, and maybe he would listen to the dragon better than her.

She saddled Stormfly and took off into the cold night air. Where she was going she didn't think about. She just needed to leave. She flew and flew, and let the tears roll down her face. There was no one up here to hear her.

A small island came into view. Landing, Astrid slipped off Stormfly's back. There were no sounds on the island, just the crashing of the iron colored waves on the rocky walls that surrounded it. She hadn't taken any supplies, just the few things that were in the saddle bags.

She made a fire with Stormfly's help. The dragon snorted, and laid beside the fire and went back to the rest that Astrid had disturbed. Astrid sat against her warm belly, feeling the rise and fall of her breathing. The fire crackled and heated her face and hands, the stars slowly moved overhead.

This…overwhelming guilt wasn't going away. It was getting worse and worse, and knowing there was no forgiveness was making it worse. She felt so…worthless. Hiccup deserved so much better than she had been. Hiccup was right, she should have died. She should have died rather than betray him. Like a wife should.

Against Stormfly, Astrid fell into an uneasy sleep. Her dreams were vicious and unforgiving, shame filled mini-nightmares that churned her into fleeting periods of waking. Under the stars she woke again, this time refusing to fall back into those dreams. She got up with care not to wake the sleeping dragon.

The island's rocky coast was a short walk away. The waves crashed on the rocks, beating heavy with white foam and rage. Standing on the edge, her toes looking straight down over the rocky cliff, she pondered over Hiccup's last words.

Maybe she should have died. It wouldn't be that hard, she thought, to just slip and fall, and put an end to this. Then Hiccup could find someone worthy of his time, and trust.

What had she become? This was not the future she'd envisioned with Hiccup when they married. Not at all. It had been of happiness, oneness, and spending every night together and waking up in the morning together, and growing old together, in completely faith and trust. And she'd thrown that all away. For selfishness.

She sighed, leaning over the edge, looking down its death dealing angles. It wouldn't be that hard. Stormfly would fly back to Berk without her, no one would be the wiser. She'd fallen off in flight, drowning in the water, body never to be found. She leaned a little more, the weight coming off her heels and onto her toes.

Her weight tilted forward, and she felt gravity pulling her down. She closed her eyes, expecting a cold darkness to follow. The fall was interrupted but a sharp jerk on her arm. She was pulled back over the edge and two arms came fast around her.

"I didn't mean it." Hiccup said quickly, her dead weight sending them to the ground.

She hadn't expected him to just appear like that. He held her tight, burying his face in her hair.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked, her voice sounded dry and raspy, like someone who'd been crying.

"I'm sorry." He said. His voice wasn't its normal self, but a little raspy too. "I'm sorry, Astrid. I was mad, I shouldn't have said that. I didn't want you to go."

She returned his embrace. Never again did she think she'd feel it. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"Astrid, I love you." Hiccup said. "I know you're not perfect. That's something I love about you. And this is just a mistake we'll have to get passed. Together."

"Together." Astrid said.

Hiccup didn't let go of her, but helped her stand. Hand in hand they walked back to the fire where Stormfly and Toothless were snoozing in a circle around it, nose to tail. Hiccup and Astrid stepped over the dragon-wall and sat beside the fire, Hiccup pulling his into her arms.

"So…uh, is he better than me?" Hiccups whispered in her ear.

For the first time in a while, she smiled. "Not even close."

He hugged her tighter, leaning over her shoulder and resting his cheek against hers. They shared a kiss, with more warmth than any other. It lead to another, and then on to another. Astrid rested her head against his chest, Hiccup had a hand tangled in her air.

"We should get back to Berk before people notice we're gone." Hiccup said.

"Yeah." Astrid said.

They woke the dragons, Stormfly none to happy about being woken twice that night. She would be a stubborn ride tomorrow. But that would be later. They rode to Berk in better spirits than they'd left. Landing beside the stable the dragons gladly went inside for their next installment of dreams.

Once inside the house the door was closed, Hiccup pulled her back into his arms, pressing his lips to hers. Pulling the other closer to themselves, they made it up the stairs and to their bed. They collapsed onto it, never leaving each other.

There was a steep difference between Hiccup and Snotlout. Astrid had shared the intimate act with both of them, but she had only had sex with Snotlout, and she made love with Hiccup. There was energy between them, the magnetic power of love and was more mystery than words could ever explain. Each kiss was alit with passion, urgency for another, each touch was feverish and warm, another piece of dried wood on the roaring fire. Each thrust was a shared effort, eliciting passion and pleasure from both, the unbelievable power from being with the one, instead of just one.

The east was glowing orange-purple and inside they were both breathless. Astrid held him tight and laid her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating, a soothing rhythm that was more than calming. He rubbed her arm with his hand, callused and rough.

Sounds were drifting in from the village outside. Hiccup sighed, and patted her arm. He nestled his nose in her hair. Astrid lifted her head to kiss him, starting small and slow, then working it deeper. She pushed herself up and over him, using her body weight to pin him to the bed. He didn't reject it, but gathered her in his arms.

They rolled from side to side, never letting go of each other, hugging the other closer, pressing their bodies together. Some call it simple sex, but between a special number of people who have found that one someone, it is something more. Partaking in the oneness that only lovemaking brings, of body and of soul.

Hiccup held each of her knees in his hands, sliding them up her bare thighs, as he slide himself inside her. She gasped at the incredible feeling that swan through her veins like fire. She drew him close to her, holding her arms around his shoulders, digging her nails into his skin with every thrust.

"Hiccup," Astrid said, ecstasy on her lips. They shared a heated kiss, lingering to lengthen its fleeting moment.

It was escalating, more and more, and at the tip of the height Hiccup groaned into her ear, an audible exhale to a pleasure with no possible description. No other sound was more erotic to her, every sound he made, every gasp that escaped her lips, was far more pleasurable than either had imagined possible.

"Hiccup," Astrid said, catching her breath.

He laid beside her, equally breathless. He turned to look at her, green eyes deep in love with the woman he'd nearly pushed too far away.

"I love you." Astrid said.

'I love you, too." Hiccup kissed her, emptying everything he felt into that one kiss.

I regret nothing!


	2. 2 Frozen

During a rescue the weather gets dangerous and forces Hiccup and Astrid to make an emergency landing.

Onward!

The wind was vicious and cut like sharp swift knives. The steel waters were in a rage and the angry ice chunks were multiplying. Hiccup felt his grip on Toothless waning underneath his frozen fingers. He'd lost feeling in his face a while ago. With each breath the icy air cut into his dry throat and filled his lungs like liquid daggers.

"I can't see anything!" Astrid complained. She and Stormfly weren't far behind him.

Hiccup looked over his shoulder at them. She looked as cold as he felt. Her skin was pale and her cheeks had lost the pinkish glow they'd had when they'd started out.

"I don't either." Hiccup called back. The visibility had gotten progressively worse until the sky and the waters were the same dirty snow color. The snow had started as flurries but had graduated into a blizzard.

"Hiccup, we need to turn back or stop before we freeze to death!" Astrid gasped through the snow. "We can't find anyone if we're dead!"

Astrid was right. Hiccup knew it, but they couldn't turn back. He wasn't sure where 'back' was in this haze. And where could they stop? There was no land bigger than Toothless and the glaciers were sharp and jagged.

The wind burst with sudden brute force. The dragons were tossed this way and that through the turbulence. Hiccup tightened his slippery grip on the saddle. The wind was too fierce and picking up strength.

"We can't fly in this!" Hiccup shouted. But he was sure Astrid already knew that. They'd have to land soon or they'd end up in the water. Hiccup reached forward and patted Toothless's head. "Toothless, we need to land."

Toothless growled in agreement and threw out a sightless roar. Hiccup could hear the sonic sound reverberating back to them. Toothless roared a second time and after a pause grunted with a head shake. He'd found something.

"Take us down!" Hiccup directed.

Toothless didn't hesitated and began his decent immediately. The wind fought back but Hiccup held on tight. He looked back to make sure that Astrid and Stormfly were following. They air grew darker as the snow pelted harder. If his face hadn't been so cold he might have felt the miniature blades. He was almost glad he couldn't feel anything.

Hiccup swore under his breath as a tough wind pushed Toothless down with a sudden blow, upsetting his mechanical tail and sending them for a spin. Toothless growled as Hiccup gained control just as a wave crested a few feet below them.

In this weather being wet would be a death sentence. Hiccup was glad when the landing spot Toothless's sense came into view. It had first looked like a giant iceberg but Hiccup could see the rocky base on which the ice had grown. It was a mile high with ice and more than three times that wide. Toothless was aiming for a crevice in the ice. With a well-aimed plasma blast Toothless made it wide enough for entry.

A strong burst of wind blew off the ice just as Toothless made it through. It twisted his tail and sent him and Hiccup into a crashing skid. They flipped over just as Hiccup heard Astrid's shout and Stormfly's protest. Toothless reacted before Hiccup knew exactly what had happened.

The wind had struck Stormfly hard and pushed her backward. Her rider was thrown off at a violent angle. Hiccup felt his chest thump and then stop. Toothless didn't wait for Hiccup's instruction and jumped back into the storm.

Stormfly regained her ground but didn't have enough time. She cry-chirped as Toothless dive-bombed to the ice below. She landed on the iceberg's edge and watched from her perch.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted into the wind.

The ground was coming up too fast. Astrid reached up for him, hand open, eyes wide. Toothless was fast but there wasn't time. Hiccup was reaching back when Astrid crashed through the layer of ice and splashed into the freezing waters underneath. It slopped up on the cracked and shattered ice.

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried after her. Toothless refused to land on the thin ice. Hiccup searched the still sloshing water for any sign of Astrid. If he went in after her then they'd both be in trouble. Toothless growled and whined at the ice and clawed at it from the air. He seemed as desperate as Hiccup felt.

He hovered over the hole waiting for…anything. He searched the calming grey waters but there was nothing buy shadows underneath. His heart was thumping hard and his hands were shaking. Was it just him or was time going slower?

The water turned turbulent and Astrid burst through the gray surface, soaked to the bones. Her hair was plastered against her white-cold face. Hiccup leaned as far off Toothless as he could to reach down to her. Astrid tried to pull her shaking limbs out of the water but the only thing to pull on was the fragile and cracked ice. It shattered underneath her with each attempt.

"Astrid!" Hiccup called down to her. If he could just reach a little farther…

At last she found a thicker patch of ice and pulled herself from the water. By this time her limbs were ravaged by uncontrollable shaking. She coughed out the freezing water and gasped in the frigid air.

"Astrid, come on! We're running out of time!" Hiccup shouted down to her.

She looked up at him and returned his reaching, grasping his hand as best she could. She was more than just cold. The water was dripping off her and already freezing. Her hair, skin, and clothes glistened with tiny forming ice sparks. Her grip was weak and like trying to hold onto a struggling fish.

Somehow Hiccup managed to pull her out of the water. She collapsed onto Toothless with a gasp. Hiccup placed a hand on her back to hold her as Toothless shot upward. Stormfly chirped in anticipation as Toothless flew into the ice cave. She followed them into the cave and lit it up with her bright magnesium sparkler.

Toothless flew as fast as he could and landed on the first semi-smooth patch of rock. He blasted away what ice there was and bent down to make disembarkment easier. Hiccup left Astrid on the saddle while he search the saddlebags for firewood. His hands were fumbling as he dropped them to the ground. He knelt down and arranged them as best he could and motioned Toothless to light them.

It simmered and grew into a blazing fire while Hiccup picked up Astrid from the saddle and escorted her to the fireside. She could barely walk and leaning into him, holding his arm in her shaking hands. She stumbled and fell as the warmth grew closer.

"You need to get out of those clothes." Hiccup said. It took a few seconds before Hiccup realized what he'd said. Her felt a bashful red flush into his frozen face.

She tried to speak but her words were mangled. Her fingers weren't working as she fumbled with her arm wrappings.

Hiccup didn't have time to be bashful. He swallowed and he didn't waste any more time in pulling Astrid's arm toward him and undoing the leather ties. He pulled the half-frozen wraps from her arms. She shook terrible in his hands. Hiccup found himself shaking too, but with stress not cold.

She put her hands out to the fire and gasped-sighed with relief. But it didn't last long. She pulled off her boots and socks which were both slippery with ice. Hiccup tried to help but she shooed away his hands.

The warmth of the fire felt amazing. Hiccup's skin was coming back to life and he was aware of how unbearably cold it really was. Astrid didn't say anything but hit him with the back of her hand and pointed to her shoulders. Hiccup took the hint and removed the metal and fur. The skin underneath was shivering.

Astrid pulled at her shirt with her shaking hands and Hiccup hesitated to help. It was stiff and iced in several places and it would be better if she removed it. He inhaled and reached out to help her. She paused, and looked at him, but nodded. Hiccup took hold of the fabric and pulled it from her skirt and away from her skin. It crunched under his grip where the ice was forming.

She raised her hands to make it easier. Hiccup pulled the shirt over her head and threw it with the growing pile of frozen clothing. Underneath, her stomach was red. She pulled the skirt from her hips and with the help of Hiccup's sturdy hands she pushed her pants down her red and frozen legs.

Hiccup helped her to sit closer to the fire.

"How are you feeling?" Hiccup asked. That awkward feeling was coming back. Would it make her feel less strange if he took his shirt off too? No, that would make it worse. A lot worse.

"I'm better." Astrid mumbled.

Hiccup shook off the weirdness and searched through the saddlebags for anything that might help. He found an old blanket that had been packed for a while with the wrinkles and smell to prove it. He shook it out and draped it around Astrid's shoulders.

"This'll help." Hiccup said. He sat down beside her. The fire was bringing back the feeling in his extremities. He could only imagine how it must feel to have been submerged in that ice water.

"Thanks." Astrid mumbled through cold, but dry, lips. She was still shaking but not nearly as bad.

Hiccup sighed in relief. This wasn't at all how this mission was supposed to go. They'd been sent a day before to find a group of riders in training who hadn't come back from an exercise. Fishlegs had taken charge and taken a small group of inexperienced riders to test their cold weather survival skills and then the storm set it. They could see the grey clouds from Berk. When they party didn't return Hiccup and Astrid wet out after them.

Hiccup hadn't wanted leave give Fishlegs in charge. But he had and it was too late for regret now. Fishlegs is brilliant with dragon trivia and was a never-ending well of knowledge but he wasn't a leader. And Hiccup hoped to Thor that it was the weather keeping them.

Hiccup had given Fishlegs the okay and whatever happened to them it was mostly his fault. He could have gone or done something. And now Astrid's health was precariously hanging one the life of the fire.

"I guess we'll just came here for the night." Hiccup sighed.

Astrid mumbled what Hiccup took for an agreement. Hiccup tried to ignore the fact that Astrid was just in her undergarments and a blanket but I kept returning to the forefront of his mind. "Hopefully, the others will survive the storm."

"Hiccup," Astrid said in a raspy and dry voice. "It's not your fault."

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked. "It's ninety percent my fault."

"It's not your fault the weather turned bad." Astrid said without pause. "You didn't cause the wind that blew me into the water."

"I can't help feeling like there was something I could have done." Hiccup sighed.

"Like what?" Astrid asked, turning toward him. Her brilliant blue eyes were looking at him with reassurance. He loved that look but she always used it when he didn't appreciate it.

"I don't know…" Hiccup shrugged.

"If you'd gone with them then you'd be in the same boat. And then I'd have come looking for you by myself and died when I fell." Astrid said. "You need to let Fishlegs stand on his own, be responsible, and understand what it's like not to reply on you for everything."

Hiccup sighed, but Astrid laughed. It was hoarse but her warm laugh was inside it.

"What?" Hiccup asked.

"You're worrying over them like a real chief." Astrid smiled. "See? Your potential is showing."

Outside the storm raged. The wind smacked snow against the iceberg and the ocean surged in torrents. The dragons were on edge. Hiccup guessed it had something to do with the instability of the ground around them. Inside their little cave the snow outside sounded like hail.

Hiccup grumbled. For all they knew it could be a snow and hail storm.

Toothless kept the fire hot and Stormfly curled behind Astrid. She leaned against her dragon's warm stomach and hugged the blanket around her. Her hair was still a little wet but not frozen.

"Are you alright?" Hiccup asked. He could feel sleep settling in behind his eyes.

"Yeah." Astrid said. She shuffled the blanket around her. "You know, I really thought I was done for back there."

"You didn't think I'd save you?" Hiccup asked, a little deflated.

"No, before that." Astrid said, a little uncomfortable in her confession. "When I was under the ice. There was a moment when I was I was looking up and everything around me became the same color and I didn't know which way was which. It was so cold, and dark, and I could feel my lungs burning and…and I knew it was all over."

"But it worked out." Hiccup said.

"I started floating and I think…I heard your voice. I went toward it and then I heard you for sure, and I knew which way was up. I knew I'd be fine." Astrid sighed.

Hiccup smiled. It was warming to know that she trusted him like that. It felt like a warm hand over his chest. Without realizing until after he'd done it, Hiccup hugged his arms over his chest against the cold.

"Hiccup? Come here." Astrid said. She turned toward him and adjusted herself. She held the blanket open like warm wings.

"Are you sure?" Hiccup asked with a fluctuation in his throat. Even from this distance he could see the bare skin on her stomach and the gray around her chest. "I mean, I appreciate it…but…you aren't…wearing a lot."

"Hiccup, it's too cold. You'll freeze." Astrid said with certainty. But Hiccup hesitated, and then a mischievous grin spread across her face. "You'd rather freeze then sleep next to me? I thought you'd jump on the chance to snuggle."

Hiccup felt his face burst with redness. There was no hiding it and he knew she saw it. He scooted it closer and Stormfly chirped a quiet greeting as he sat down inside Astrid's open arms. She enclosed them around his neck and engulfed him in the warmth she'd concealed inside.

For the blanket to cover them both they had to sit close. Hiccup's arms were in the way. He hesitated and tentatively snaked them around her waist. It was much more comfortable and Astrid didn't seem to mind. If anything, she moved closer.

Her bare skin was underneath his hands. She was so…soft. A lot softer than he'd expected. It was like the soft fresh yak fur, or the silk that Trader Johan would occasionally bring.

"Having fun?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup had been caught off guard. He hadn't realize his action again until they were called to his attention. He'd been rubbing her side. Embarrassment spread over his face but Astrid was smiling at him.

"Sorry, I was just…" Hiccup stuttered.

Astrid laid her head on his shoulder and he stopped talking. He felt his heart do a rapid thump-thump and then pause. They'd hugged before and they'd shared several short kisses. But they'd never been this close for this long. Hiccup hand resting comfortably one her hip and the other was hugging her high enough to rest his thumb on the fabric that bound her breasts. And he couldn't stop thinking about that.

Astrid laughed lightly in his ear.

"What?" Hiccup asked.

"You know we're going to get a load from the others when we're gone for the night." Astrid said.

Hiccup smiled. "Yeah, probably."

The twins often poked and prodded for anything to use against them. It had become a running gag for them. A night where no one knew where both Hiccup and Astrid were would be a gold pot for them.

"Let them say whatever." Astrid sighed with that cheeky smiley. "Besides us, only Toothless and Stormfly will know what really happened."

The way she worded it felt…mischievous. Hiccup's hearth did a turnabout when Astrid stroked his jaw with her index finger. His instinctive reaction was to follow her finger and turn toward her where her lips were waiting on his. The inside of her mouth was hot and made the air outside feel frozen. Astrid had his mouth and she wasn't going to let him go. She bit his lower lip and pulled him closer, licking his parted lips.

Hiccup couldn't stop the moan that escaped his throat. With her initiate he started the battle of tongues in which he fought gallantly but knew he couldn't win, because if he did she wouldn't let him forget it. When Hiccup withdrew his tongue Astrid bit it, pulling on it playfully, just enough so that he'd know.

His hand held her tight. His thumb fiddled with the edge of the bindings, to the mysterious and forbidden skin underneath.

"You know," Astrid said between prolonged kisses, "They're still pretty wet."

Hiccup didn't get it at first but Astrid tipped his arm upward so that his hand was poised to the binding's end. She pulled away just long enough to looked into his eyes with that mischievous grin. He kissed her again and this time she pushed against his lips.

He fumbled with the bindings. He was a boy and never had to think about how they actually worked. Turns out, it was a long strip of fabric wrapped around the chest and tucked underneath to keep it in place. Once Astrid showed him where to un-tuck the rest was a game of patience.

The breast bindings joined the other wet clothes and Hiccup couldn't stop his trembling hands and thumping chest and yearning somewhere a lot lower. Astrid gasped into his mouth when he began to explore her body; his hands going where they couldn't before.

A series of moans from her mouth to his told him whatever he was doing, he was doing it right. That yearning deep below his stomach grew as he held her breast in his hand. It was like a plump ripe apple, and like the rest of her, unbelievably soft. In his exploration he found its hard center and Astrid hesitated her lips and moaned deeply into his mouth.

In curiosity, Hiccup brought his other hand to join his other. Astrid gasped into his mouth and Hiccup took the chance to lead a trail of kisses along her chin and jaw and ended at the base of her neck. Stormfly adjusted which sent Astrid and Hiccup crashing to the floor.

Hiccup stopped and started to get up but Astrid pulled him back down. He crashed back down on top of her and she threw her mouth onto his. She pulled him closer by snaking her arms around his neck and shoulders. She caught him by surprise when she wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him tighter.

She gasped at the impact and Hiccup didn't have to think about why. There was no way she couldn't notice it. Hiccup felt her smiling against this lips. She did a subtle motion with her hips and Hiccup groaned before he knew it. It was stirring something inside him he'd never felt before.

"Hiccup," Astrid gasped into his mouth.

He paused to look down at her but didn't need to ask. Her hands were at the hem of his tunic and already pulling it up and off. It landed with a flop near her wet clothes pile. Her soft hands searched his torso, grabbing and maintaining a firm grip on his hips, pressing her palms into his back.

For a while it was silent, between heated kisses and exploratory extremities, there was little room for anything else. But neither seemed to mind. Astrid started doing that incredible twisting of her hips. She kept her legs around his hips and he almost couldn't stand it.

"Hiccup." Astrid breathed into his mouth. When she didn't say anything, or do anything, Hiccup leaned on his elbow to look at her. He admitted, to himself, that he would prefer not to stop.

"What?" Hiccup asked. "Did I do something-"

"No, no, it's just…" Astrid said. Hiccup was concerned about the nervousness in her voice.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup said. He adjusted himself so he wasn't directly over her. She loosened her legs and he laid beside her. She adjusted her arms and pulled the blanket over exposed chest. "Are you alright?"

"It's just…where is this going?" Astrid asked.

"I don't know." Hiccup shrugged.

She adjusted her hips.

"I'm sorry." Hiccup said. He released his elbow and laid on his back beside her. "I guess it just escalated."

"Yeah." Astrid nodded.

Hiccup felt awkward embarrassment filling in where his previous excitement was vanishing.

"It was fun thought." Hiccup tried to laugh it off but it wasn't working.

"It was." Astrid agreed in a quiet tone Hiccup didn't know how to interrupt.

"So…what now?" Hiccup twiddled his thumbs.

"Well, the storm still sounds pretty bad out there." Astrid said in the same tone. "It might take all night to blow over."

"True. True." Hiccup agreed. He had a feeling this night was going to be a long one.

Astrid coughed. It was fake and she didn't bother making it sound real. "You know, we do have all night. No one would know."

"Know what?" Hiccup asked.

"Hiccup." Astrid said in that stern tone she used when he was being ignorant to something she deemed obvious. She turned her head to look at him with a look that confirmed her tone.

"Oh." Hiccup gasped when he got it. She was talking about _that_. That _thing _people do when they're married and that _thing _that his father would skin them both alive if he knew they were even thinking about it.

"Yeah." Astrid nodded. She had that nervousness about her that absolutely adorable but at the same time a little frightening. That mischievous smile broke out across her lips.

"But…that's…I mean…" Hiccup stuttered out. He was on his elbow again.

"Do you want to?" Astrid whispered.

Hiccup looked down at her and felt a bit of a resurgence of that excitement below his stomach. He did, there was no doubt, but he also didn't want to. But was it intimidation or embarrassment that was holding his tongue?

"Yeah." Hiccup nodded.

Astrid's smile widened as she bit her lower lip. Hiccup leaned back over her and she pulled him into a kiss he gladly leaned into. Soon they were folded around each other as tightly as before.

The End.

Hmmm… Originally I figured they'd have sex but then I got to the end and I realized that those scenes were totally unnecessary. Weird how a story kind of writes itself like that.


End file.
